The Deep Pinball vs Visual Pinball
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Deep Pinball
Experience a unique 3D pinball adventure set in the ocean depths. Pilot a submarine through sunken ships and underwater ruins, completing missions with the help of an on-board computer. Enjoy realistic physics, smashing music, and multiple camera modes.
- 3D engine
- Missions and checkpoints
- Realistic physics
- Multiball
- Multiple camera modes
- Save/load game
- Table tilting
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DON'T MISS OUR ANOTHER AMAZING GAME - Pinball HD Collection (ADA-2010 WINNING PINBALL SIMULATOR) -------------------------------------- ABOUT THE GAME Have you been waiting for it? – Here you are! This is not just a pinball. This is The Deep. Built up on the unique 3D engine, winning over by realistic physics and smashing music, The Deep Pinball will not leave untouched even the hypercritical gamer. You are sailing the most perfect submarine in the world which will be your reliable guide in the mysterious world of ocean depths. Sunken ships and ruin tunnels, unde3rwater hunting and chests full of treasures are waiting for you. And your assistant - on-board computer – will provide you with all information necessary for successful passing of secret missions. Oh, and don’t even try to flirt with it… ;-) IMPORTANT • You can find SOUND, MUSIC and THEME options in standard iPhone “Settings” section. • During the game pinch your fingers together or apart to toggle camera mode from live to fixed. FEATURES – New improved 3D engine – Missions and Checkpoints – Hidden locations – Realistic physics – Multiball – Camera effects with three modes – Save/load game – Unique sounds – Original soundtrack – On-board computer with voice management – Player’s speech – Table tilting – Local scores table – World scores table HOW TO PLAY When running the app, you are presented with a 3D simulated camera zoom, pan and fly-over of one of the games. Swiping right brings up Gameprom news and swiping left brings up the local score screen. Tapping on a game's fly-over screen starts game play. Controls in game: • Tap ANYWHERE on the left side of screen to control the left flipper and ANYWHERE on the right side to control the right flipper. • Shake your iPad to realistically shake the pinball table, but not too much or you'll tilt. • Tap on the "electronic caption" at the top of the screen to pause or resume your game. • Pinch your fingers together or apart to toggle camera mode from live to fixed THE DEEP PINBALL. DEEPER AND COOLER.
Visual Pinball
Enjoy a realistic pinball simulation with hundreds of community-created tables. Experience immersive haptic feedback and customize your gameplay with intuitive settings and controller support. Advanced options are available for power users.
- Hundreds of community-developed tables
- Haptic feedback for immersive gameplay
- Customizable settings and POV adjustments
- Game controller support
- External DMD and AltColor/AltSound support
- Touch overlay and instructions
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The official Visual Pinball app. Built by volunteers since 2000 and open source since 2010, Visual Pinball is the simulator the virtual pinball community has been playing for over two decades. More than 70 people have contributed to it, and this app runs the same engine as the desktop version, so every table plays with the physics, lighting and sound its creator intended. No ads. No in-app purchases. No tracking. Made by volunteers. Two years of work from the Visual Pinball volunteers, in one update. Thank you for your patience, and for playing! A FRESH NEW LOOK • Redesigned for iOS 26 with Liquid Glass • Favorites and recently played tables at the top of your list • Search, sorting and three tile sizes • Light, Dark or System appearance • New loading screen that shows progress THE FULL DESKTOP EXPERIENCE • The complete Visual Pinball in-game menu for graphics, sound, controls and table options • Remap every button on keyboards and game controllers • Save settings for every table, or just the one you're playing MORE TABLES, LOOKING BETTER • Show the backglass and score display (DMD, alphanumeric or reels) on screen, right where you want them • Support for PUP packs, FlexDMD, B2S backglasses, video playback and VNI colorizations • All the latest physics and rendering improvements from the desktop version • Much lower memory use: textures are compressed on first load, then cached EASIER TABLE MANAGEMENT • Import .zip files, along with .vpx and .vpxz • Share any table as a single .vpxz file • The web file manager can now upload whole folders, extract archives, edit scripts and settings, and show the log live AND MORE • Many stability and memory fixes This version requires iOS 26.6 or later.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Visual Pinball at Free against The Deep Pinball's $1.99. Visual Pinball also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4). The Deep Pinball's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 4.3) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 12 months). On ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Visual Pinball is free to download; The Deep Pinball costs $1.99 up front. The Deep Pinball sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Visual Pinball asks for nothing beyond the download.
The Deep Pinball holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 327 and 74 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 90% of The Deep Pinball's written reviews are positive against 79% of Visual Pinball's.
The Deep Pinball ships an update every 3 months, Visual Pinball every 12 months. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Deep Pinball | Visual Pinball |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.6 (327 ratings) — better | 4.3 (74 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 90.1% of reviews — better | 78.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 327 — better | 74 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 12 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 26.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 91 MB | 120 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | BrainVault Games, LLC | Jason Millard |
Customer experience
The Deep Pinball
Visual Pinball
User reviews
The Deep Pinball
From 327 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎮 Realistic pinball experience
- 🎨 Excellent graphics and visuals
- 🕹️ Smooth and responsive gameplay
- 🏆 Challenging missions and objectives
- 🕰️ Great way to pass the time
Room to improve
- 🔇 Annoying voice/audio
- 🐛 Occasional glitches and bugs
- 🔍 Limited view of the full table
- 🕹️ Sensitive flipper controls
- 💰 Concerns over recent monetization changes
Visual Pinball
From 74 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Awesome way to play virtual pinball on the go
- 👍 Super easy to set up with minimal file prep time
- 👍 Insane that I can play favorite pins on just my phone
- 👍 Fantastic portable implementation of VPX
- 👍 Fun and exciting to archive the history of pinball
Room to improve
- 🔧 More ability to adjust table settings needed
- 🔧 Struggling to manage camera angle
- 🔧 No fullscreen on iPad, plunger and outlanes cropped
- 🔧 Some tables don't work or have issues
Bugs and requests
The Deep Pinball
Reported bugs
4 issues- Left flipper not responding at times
- Ball getting stuck in certain areas
- Scoreboard issues with points accumulating
- Crashes and freezes on some devices
Requested features
5 requests- More pinball tables and themes
- Option to disable voice/audio
- Ability to continue progress after exiting
- Improved scoring and progression system
- Support for newer devices and iOS versions
Visual Pinball
Reported bugs
2 issues- Tables don't load for some users
- Certain complex/intensive tables error out or run at low FPS
Requested features
6 requests- List of most played tables
- Ability to reposition DMD
- Option to skip startup checks for some tables
- Ability to edit table scripts on the app
- Direct link to table depository
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- iPad version with more screen space
In-app purchases
The Deep Pinball
- Multiball x15$0.99
- Ball Saver x15$0.99
- Extra Ball x10$0.99
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- Cheats Pack$1.99
Visual Pinball
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is The Deep Pinball free?
Is Visual Pinball free?
Which has better reviews, The Deep Pinball or Visual Pinball?
Do The Deep Pinball or Visual Pinball have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Deep Pinball or Visual Pinball?
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